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For immediate release
December 30, 2009 at 4:04pm
For more information, contact
Patti Bogan 762-4736/242-0704

Chugach customers to see lower rates

Chugach customers will pay less for fuel on their monthly electric bills during the first quarter of 2010 than they did in the fourth quarter of 2009. Both wholesale and retail customers will see lower fuel costs as new quarterly prices go into effect in January.

The total monthly bill for a Chugach residential customer using 700 kilowatt-hours of electricity will decrease about 7.7 percent, from $99.04 to $91.43. Commercial customers will see similar reductions.

The rate change was approved by the Regulatory Commission of Alaska on Dec. 23. Chugach filed the request for the new, lower rates in its routine quarterly fuel surcharge filing that was submitted to the RCA in November. The rate reductions are driven by lower gas prices.

Chugach's gas contracts call for producers to adjust prices quarterly based upon changes to three nationally traded commodities: crude oil, fuel oil and natural gas. When commodity prices fall, so does the price Chugach pays for the natural gas it uses to generate about 90 percent of the power it generates (the balance comes from hydro projects).

Chugach is the largest electric utility in Alaska, providing power for Alaskans throughout the Railbelt through retail, wholesale and economy energy sales.